Abstract

While prior literature has studied how communities can co-destroy value when producers and consumers are misaligned in their goals, little research has focused on how transgressive consumer behaviors—behaviors that go against a producer’s intent—can create value. To this end, I study the speedrunning community, a subset of the gaming community focused on beating games as fast as possible, through any means available. In their search for faster times, they often find themselves radically altering games against producers’ intents. My findings reveal ways in which communities can co-create a new temporary agency for games—speedrunning—that is to say new ways to interact with them, by altering either the gameplay offerings of their games, or by introducing new forms of sociability. Speedrunning creates value by extending the longevity of products, increasing their customizability, as well as offering expanded social opportunities that deepen individuals’ connection with the game. By creating a new temporary agency, speedrunners find themselves more fulfilled as both individuals and consumers. The findings deepen our understanding of co-creation and co-destruction, demonstrating that transgressive behaviors can create value.